Consequences // JJ

Prologue

     The outer banks. Some call it paradise on earth, and I would agree for the most part. I mean, it has its highs and lows. Nothing beats the misty ocean air, sunsets over the marsh, and bonfires in the sand. I never get tired of it. My weekdays are spent covered in grease and taking food orders alongside my best friend Kiara in her family's restaurant, and when the work week finally ends, me and my friends spend the weekends fishing, surfing, and causing mischief. For the most part, we pretty much do whatever we want. The downside? A twisted hierarchy of fortune that unfortunately lands me and my friends at the bottom.

     We call ourselves the "Pogues", and to be honest, we are the ones that keep this island running. We work the restaurants, stores, charters, and pretty much any other essential establishment in the Outer Banks. Yet we are all scraping the bottom of the barrel to make a living. Pretty messed up if you ask me. The lucky members of OBX society are what we call the "Kooks". They live in houses that would swallow my house and have yachts that could possibly be classified as mini cruise ships. As you could probably guess, the kooks think they run the island. They think their country club memberships and exclusive parties make them irreplaceable members of the community, but they're honestly just a preppy pain in my ass.

     That's one of the problems with this whole system; your social status is not up to you. No matter how hard you try to change things, you're born into it; kook or pogue, that's it. Although, in my case, I guess you could say I was brought into the pogue life. I was born from one of my dad's college hookups. He didn't know about me, and when I was born my mom basically dropped me off and dipped. She must be off the grid or something, because trust me, if my father could find her, he would have taken me back in a heartbeat. Unfortunately for him, he was stuck with me, so he did what any reasonable father would do...he dropped me off at his brother's house and left the state. I know it sounds awful, but I'm glad he did. Once I got past the whole daddy issues thing, I actually had a pretty good childhood.

     My cousin John B might as well be my brother. We're the same age, and we were inseparable as kids. For years it was just the two of us. In third grade, we met JJ. In fifth we met Pope, and for years it was just me and the boys. Together we learned how to surf, got ourselves into trouble, pretty used the entire island as our playground. It wasn't until high school when I finally became friends with a girl. When Kiara and I met, we clicked instantly, and she became my best friend. You have no idea how happy I was to have another girl in the group. I didn't realize how much I needed girl talk until Ki came around, and now I think I would literally lose my mind without her. I would lose my mind without any of them to be honest. They're my family.

     Speaking of family, the past year has not been easy for ours. Uncle John went missing 9 months ago. Lost at sea without a trace. I'm honestly not sure what to think of it. John B is convinced that he is still alive, and I want to believe him, but as the months tick on, it's become hard to imagine that Uncle John is still out there. I hold on to hope for John B's sake, but I've mentally convinced myself that we're on our own now.

     When word first got out of Uncle John's disappearance, my dad returned for the first time in 2 years. I was in shock, but I secretly hoped he would stay and take care of us. I should have known it wouldn't last. As soon as dad saw that Uncle John had not left an inheritance, he left for Mississippi, and we haven't heard from him since. John B and I are alone without supervision now, which isn't anything I'm not used to. JJ, Ki, and Pope pretty might as well live with us now. They crash at the chateau almost every night, and to be honest, our little house feels more like a home than it ever has before.

     We're taking it one day at a time. I just hope things start to go back to normal.